In his Feb. 11 letter, “Take action against extremists,” Dennis Rozario calls “justifying terrorism … a typical progressive position.” I would remind Rozario, and Columbian readers, that former President Ronald Reagan, no progressive, used the term “freedom fighters” to describe the Afghan rebel group Osama bin Laden belonged to.
Plenty of progressives are shocked by President Obama’s attempt to compare brutality that criminals proclaim to be in the service of Islam with Medieval warfare. This is a time for all of us who believe in the rule of law, free speech and the rights of the individual to stand with each other in opposition to those who use brutality to seize control over people they delight in tormenting and to express hurt feelings over cartoons.
Trish Randall
Vancouver
